NOVEL NEXT Chapter 78: Whelven(1)
If he was right, then this tag meant that in the future, when he would get his next class, the skill wouldn't upgrade anymore.
But that also meant it was absolute. Any skill—no matter its level—would be affected. Even the talents that consumed high MP would cost less, and he would have a lot of room to use multiple skills in battle.
Despite the instant boost from other talent options, this Mana Conduit skill was a long-term benefit that would serve as the foundation for his future growth.
[Talent 'Mana Conduit' Acquired]
He tapped to view the full status.
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[Name: Ash]
Profession: Modern Assassin
Class: Venomblade
Class Traits: (Poison Master) (Walking Antidote) (Withering Kiss) (Corrosion)
Level: 15
EXP: 243,000 / 500,000
AGILITY: 13 (+12) | ENDURANCE: 7 (+20) | STRENGTH: 7 (+14) | LUCK: 23 | WILLPOWER: 499
Reputation: ★☆☆☆☆ (Silver)
★☆☆☆☆ (Bronze)
MP: 210 / 210 (Recovery Rate: 1 per 270 seconds)
Stat Points: 0
Rune Mastery: Bronze (Form, Flow)
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Skills: [Mana Overdrive] [King's Domain] [Heartpiercer] [Domain Collapse] [Inspect]
Talents: [Phantom Veil] [Quantum Edge] [Mana Conduit]
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Titles: [Phantom Aura] [Rank Slayer] [Twin Fangs] [Whisper in the Dark] [Marked by Fate] [Early Bird]
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Store Coins: 2,28,078
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The screen was the same, but with a few more strings of skills and talents added.
The store coins had reached above 200,000—almost halfway to buying a sniper rifle, which would cost him 500,000 coins.
As he completed his choices, he noticed Jessie looking at him with lost eyes—but they weren't unfamiliar anymore. Ash was able to remember everything after getting out of the mind hex's effects, so she must have retained her memory as well.
It could be otherwise, since he wasn't deeply affected, but she had lost herself—the very identity of who she was—so how much she retained was uncertain.
"Jessie," Ash said softly, trying to gauge her reaction.
"Huh?" She came out of her daze, looking straight into his eyes. There was pain, fatigue, and an unwillingness to move in her gaze.
It was because of the lingering effects of Ash's poison. Though she had been given the antidote—his blood—some effects couldn't be neutralized instantly.
On the other hand, she looked mentally drained, unable to think clearly.
"Heal yourself," Ash said, guiding her to cast a healing spell on herself.
Something clicked in her eyes—realization—and then her body began to heal. The fatigue from the poison started dispersing, and her mental state began recovering with every passing second.
After around ten minutes, her eyes cleared—ready to understand and process things. She was still not in perfect condition, but far better than before.
"Why are you naked?" The first question she asked after recovering was this.
Ash looked at himself—then at the armor lying to the side and the torn clothes scattered on the ground. He still had his undergarments on, so he was only partially naked.
"My clothes burned," Ash said, showing his back where some fabric still clung to his skin.
Jessie frowned, trying to remember when all this had happened. All she recalled was the tree chanting, and then being thrown into a mental storm where she struggled but couldn't break free.
The last thing she remembered was fighting someone who almost killed her by crushing her windpipe. After that, everything was blank.
She could barely make out a dot of the large mammoth tree in the far distance.
Her hand brushed against her own clothes, realizing that her armor was stored within the system. She had taken it off at some point—or the tree had forced her to remove it.
It was a terrifying thought. Though she was safe from physical attacks, what if something could control her and make her remove her armor?
It was the only reason Ash's bullet had been able to strike her leg. She looked at her title. "Haha, even the tree wasn't immune to the influence of my title." It had influenced the tree's decision—to make her remove her armor—so Ash could knock her out and rescue her. It was funny and terrifying at the same time.
She put the armor back on, glancing at Ash's back as he waited for her to finish.
Her hands touched the torn fabric on his back, picking away the pieces one by one while her other hand healed the wounds—mending flesh at a rapid speed thanks to her targeted healing.
Ash was caught between relief and pain. Her healing sent a soothing warmth through him, but the mending flesh caused unbearable agony.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Jessie asked, continuing to heal him.
Ash tried to laugh it off, but when faced with her steady gaze, he explained everything—from how he escaped the mind hex to how he saved her from the cursed tree like a prince on a horse.
"I'm sure the desert is about to end. We can already see stones and brown dirt in some spots. Let's continue the journey," Ash said, not even glancing back at the large tree.
It was a nightmare where he had been born as a cockroach—but next time he faced this nightmare, he planned to come as a beast and devour the tree alive.
He just needed a few more level-ups—or maybe a sniper rifle—so he wouldn't even need to go near it.
Jessie nodded, finishing the healing process. His back was fully mended now, revealing a lean, muscular frame.
But with no clothes left to wear, he put the armor on.
It looked bizarre since he had nothing on the lower half.
"Knight in shining armor," Jessie coughed, mocking him.
Ash just scoffed, ignoring her comment, his thoughts lingering on something else.
He had received another notification that he had just noticed—but it looked glitched, as if the feature wasn't available yet. Ash deduced it was something that would activate once the trial officially began.
Several days had already passed—and many more to survive—unless they found a way back.
The terrain kept shifting, slowly changing into mountains. Then they saw the first sign of greenery—other than the oasis.
The air here felt heavier, moister, alive. A low fog hovered along the uneven rocks like a living thing, and the faint sound of water echoed from somewhere beyond the ridge.